Listed status for sausage shops

The shop in opened in Walworth Road, Camberwell in 1923

Two historic sausage shops in London have been preserved for posterity and given Grade II listed status.

The Art Deco properties, which are no longer trading, served customers in Camberwell and South Norwood, south London, for more than 80 years.

Dating back to the 1920s, the premises boast original features such as tiling, engraved glass and sunburst lights.

Culture minister Margaret Hodge said it was "right" that these shops were given "extra protection".

"I grew up in south London. In those days shopping was a rich and varied experience," she said.

'An extra skin'

"It's fantastic to be able to preserve a little bit of that history - and brilliant to find shops dating from the Victorian [era] or early 20th Century which have not been changed beyond recognition by refurbishment."

She added: "It is right that these wonderfully preserved sausage shops should get the additional protection - an extra skin, if you like - that listing provides."

The listed shops were owned by the Kennedy's chain of sausage sellers, which ran a number of businesses in south London for nearly 140 years.

Along with Boots, WH Smith and Woolworths, Kennedy's was one of the first retailers to develop the idea of "brand identity" by using the same materials and decoration in each shop.

Kennedy's butchers began trading in the 1870s from a premises in Peckham and finally went out of business last year.